Ole Miss' Tee Shepard will miss 2014 season

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OXFORD -- Ole Miss cornerback Tee Shepard will miss the 2014 season with a toe injury.

Coach Hugh Freeze confirmed in a text message Thursday that Shepard will have surgery to repair a torn tendon in his big toe next week in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The news has been expected. Freeze said Wednesday that Ole Miss' training staff was waiting on one more opinion. The tendon was not completely torn, which would have definitely required surgery, but trying to play with it had significant drawbacks.

"t's a rare injury that he could try to push through and get fixed after the season, but there's the chance that the scar tissue would form around and not heal properly long-term," Freeze said. "We obviously think he has a career in football, and want to do everything we can to make sure that career is preserved."

Shepard signed with Ole Miss out of Holmes Community College and was expected to play immediately this fall. A former five-star prospect, Shepard started his NCAA eligibility clock in January 2012 when he enrolled at Notre Dame. That has cost him a redshirt year, and he has three seasons of eligibility remaining (including 2014). Ole Miss could pursue an appeal for a sixth year, like it did with linebacker Deterrian Shackelford, but not until Shepard has exhausted his eligibility.